The Toronto Maple Leafs are sending goaltender Jonathan Bernier to the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League on a 10-day conditioning stint.
The 27-year-old former first round pick agreed to be sent to the AHL to get his game straightened out after struggling in his return from a lower body injury suffered against Pittsburgh on October 31.
Bernier made only two starts in November(losing to the New York Rangers and Washington Capitals) and has lost the starting job to James Reimer.
"We all want to be good at our job and feel good about ourselves and when things aren't going good, there is a gamut of responses you go through." head coach Babcock said in Winnipeg on Wednesday. "We need to get him good feeling about himself and being confident and help us win games."
Reimer and rookie Garret Sparks took part in the morning skate at the MTS Center in Winnipeg on Wednesday and Reimer being able to backup Sparks against the Jets and play on Thursday in Minnesota allowed the Leafs to send Bernier to the AHL.
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The Swedish newspaper “Aftonbladet… reports on Wednesday that the Toronto Maple Leafs will let 19-year-old forward William Nylander play for Sweden in the upcoming IIHF World Junior Championship beginning on December 26 in Helsinki.
A Swedish delegation that included Hockey Hall of Famer Peter Forsberg met with NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly in New York on Tuesday and brought up the availability of eligible players in North America who are not playing in the NHL, including Nylander, LA Kings prospect Adrian Kempe and Calgary Flames 2015 second rounder Oliver Kylington.
Marlies forwards William Nylander and Kasperi Kapanen celebrating a goal in a recent Toronto Marlies victory over Binghamton.
Image courtesy of Christian Bonin at TSGPhoto
Daly sent requests to the clubs to release the players for the upcoming tournament and according to the report, the Leafs replied that they have no plans to promote Nylander(who leads the American Hockey League with 24 points) to the NHL and would make the 2014 top pick available.
The only hiccup would be if Nylander was called up by the Leafs or if the 19-year-old did not want to play in the tournament, but neither scenario seems likely.
“Willie has clearly said he wants to play(for Sweden and)for Toronto to release him.… Swedish National Junior coach Rikard Gronborg said. “We had a good talk and from our side, we naturally want(him to be with us).…
Sweden is expected to announce their roster early next week and Nylander will probably head to Europe in mid-December for the tournament that runs from Boxing Day to January 5th, which would mean that Nylander would miss nine Marlies games.
TSN’s Bob Mckenzie reports that it is likely that Toronto will let forward prospect Kasperi Kapanen play for Finland.
The 19-year-old first rounder acquired in the Phil Kessel deal last July has five goals and two assists in 13 games with the Marlies and would join the host countries' club that includes Colorado first rounder Mikko Rantanen and 2016 top prospects Jesse Puljujarvi and Patrik Laine.
Allowing the pair of top prospects to play in a tournament against the top 17,18 & 19 year olds in the world is a no-brainer for the Leafs organization and will help in the growth of Nylander and Kapanen going forward. The experience of playing against bigger, stronger and older players in the AHL is a great training ground for their future careers in the NHL, but the pressure of international competition also has it's positives.
Will update later in the afternoon
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